Boingers to LTR Soon. Any advice?

[GMP]

There is a huge amount of free bleed in the fork, both comp and rebound. Also no mid-valve really just a check plate. There is a bleed hole in the comp piston, plus, depending on the year and if its stock, a bleed shim on the piston face. Not much holding it up. Mine works great in the rocks (what it was valved for) and is not bad in the sand, much nmore versitle feeling than the WPs.

[AZRickD]

Near double-post.

[AZRickD]

Forks & shock arrived via UPS today.

Here are the settings:

Les' notes -- "Type of riding: 200#. Tool pack. Hydration. Single track trail/enduro/hair scrambles/Rocks"

Fork Setting

Springs: .44
Preload: 6mm
Rebound: 10 out
Comp. Lo: 16 out
Comp. Hi: --
Oil Height: 130mm, 10-weight

Shock Settings

Spring: 5.4
Preload: 10mm
Rebound: 16 out
Comp Lo: 18 out
Comp Hi: 2.5 out
PSI: 195

Total Costs (rounded up):

Shipping from Arizona to Washington: $53

Fork re-valve service and set up (incl fluid and shims): $160
Fork springs .44kg.mm: $105
Two Marzocchi 45mm oil seals: $28
Shock re-valve, service and set up (including fluid and shims): $150
Shock spring (Used Ohlin): $65

Shipping from Wash to AZ: $50

Total: $610

[2 strokes 4 life]

Seems tempting. My guy wants $500 for just rebuild and springs. I might have to go with LT Racing just because of price. With shipping I should still be under about $750. Have you ridden it yet?

[AZRickD]

I just got them today and didn't put them on yet. I'll get things bolted together tomorrow night and do a test ride over rocks, rubble, sand, and whoops on Sunday.

BTW, Les said I didn't need new seals, but I figure four years is old enough. Might as well put 'em in while he's in there.

[AZRickD]

Feeling a little under the weather. Yet, I finished torquing all fasteners to spec, and wondering if I'd have the gumption to take it for a short test ride.

Free sag at 33mm. Forks set 18mm up in the clamps (might have to change that now). I'll have to wait until my wife gets home to measure the race sag.

What the hey. Out I rode to my favorite test section of rocks, sand wash, mini whoops and short, rocky hill climbs. Just sitting on the bike I could tell that something was different. The bike didn't seem to sit any higher, but when I climbed aboard, it didn't drop as much as before (no surprise). I putted up and down my street, bouncing on the pegs. I was riding much higher in the stroke, and I detected something many have rumored to be "rebound." This would have to be tested, er, "in the field."

At my favorite training ground, and putting toward my test track to be, I hit a series of bumps and found the suspension to feel "stiff." Sort of. Hmmm. I worked the bike around a series of rocks, whoops, and other obstacles and discovered that while the suspension acted differently, it wasn't necessarily stiffer. I was running over rocks that I was barely feeling.

More importantly, when I went through the rock, my tire seemed better planted than before.

I hit some whoops and noticed that my front end stayed up higher and allowed me to hit the next whoop higher. I must have been blowing through the stroke before. I hit a series of whoops and each time the fork was ready for the next one. There were a few G-outs that had given me problems on earlier rides. I decided to check them out. That was the biggest difference I was able to qualify. No sense of bottoming at all. In fact, no sense of bottoming the entire hour I was out there.

I hit some fast, flowy single track (still with rocks and ruts here and there, with dips in and out of washes). I had meant to see what my rear suspension was doing and after a couple of miles I remembered that I forget to concentrate on it. While I liked me pre-LTR suspension, I was always aware that they were going through their paces. Post-LTR, it looks like I'm kind of forgetting about them.

Rocky, gravely sand wash was okay. There was some twisty (almost, but not quite) sugar sandy sand wash that had me knifing in around some mid-speed turns that I didn't recall happening before. Maybe that's my forks set up too high or maybe I need to click up the compression a bit.

Looks good.

[2 strokes 4 life]

Sounds very positive.

[SpeedyManiac]

18mm sounds high. Try dropping the forks to 10mm above the top triple clamp. I find this a good compromise between great turning and stability.

[AZRickD]

Okey Dokey. Will do.

EDT: I moved the forks down to 10mm. This just happens to coincide with that little groovelet so it's easy to replicate.

[AZRickD]

I completed a 40-mile "Desert Cross" race complete with yucky enduro cross course (logs, 3-stacks of logs, tires, and earth-mover tires).

Everything performed well. The most beneficial to me was the action over step-ups, G-outs and whoops. The front suspension really lofted me over the obstacle instead of what I now know was a diving motion in the forks.

Other racers were complaining about the rocks and came into the pits to take their compression all the way out (Kaw, Yam, KTM). Not knowing any better, I just left mine alone.

I *did* notice that the suspension was bouncing around more than I'd like on rocky hill climbs (mostly in the rear, as I recall). Perhaps I should try to slow the rebound a bit?